'Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Rashid. AH 170-193 / AD 786-809. AR Donative Dirham (26.5mm, 2.95 g, 3h). Anonymous issue, probably struck by Zubayda bint Ja‘far. Umm-Ja‘farabad mint. Dated AH 186 (AD 802). EF.

CNG Islamic Auction 2
Lot: 128. Estimated: $ 25 000

‘Abbasid Caliphate, Silver

Sold For $ 20 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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'Abbasid Caliphate. temp. Al-Rashid. AH 170-193 / AD 786-809. AR Donative Dirham (26.5mm, 2.95 g, 3h). Anonymous issue, probably struck by Zubayda bint Ja‘far. Umm-Ja‘farabad mint. Dated AH 186 (AD 802). Obverse field:la ilaha illa lillah (sic) / Muhammad / al-nabi al-umma (or al-ummi) / Reverse margin: rabbi - hamid - majid in border of annulets Reverse field:salla al-malik / illa ‘ali ‘Ali / al-nabi al-Mustafa; ‘Ubayd vertically below. Unpublished. Attractive light tone. EF. Of the highest rarity, apparently the only recorded example.

Ex Baldwin’s Islamic Auction 25 (10 December 2013), lot 258.

This magnificent coin was almost certainly struck by Zubayda, wife of the caliph Harun al-Rashid, who was known by the title Umm Ja‘far from which the mint-name is derived. Where ‘Umm-Ja‘farabad was located is unknown; the suggestion of the Baldwin’s cataloguer that it may have been in one of Zubayda’s palace complexes is perhaps as plausible as any.

The legends in the fields include a couple of apparent engraving errors: lillah in the first line of the obverse should presumably be Allah, while al-malīk (with a long ī) in the first line of the reverse is probably an error for al-malik (although the variant form seen here does feature in the Qur’an (liv, 55).

The final winners of all CNG Islamic Auction 2 lots will be determined during the live sale that will be held on 27 October 2022.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

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